Experiment 616
by Tatsurou-san
Summary: Raven's vacation to Hawaii takes an unexpected turn as new friendships make themselves known.
1. Chapter 1

Experiment 616

Stitch played happily on the beach with his friend Lilo, enjoying a game of fetch. It had seemed a strange game at first, but he found it enjoyable now. After a time, though, Lilo went to go bug Nani at her work, since it looked like David was trying to flirt again. Since that didn't seem all that interesting to Stitch today, he decided to explore the beach.

Everything seemed to be the same as usual, but then someone caught his eye. She lay in the shade of a tree, leaned up against the tree reading a book. She had very pale skin, and dark hair and eyes. Stitch couldn't tell any more details from this distance, but his nose told him something interesting. Her scent was otherworldly. Not a cousin, but not of Earth, entirely. An alien or hybrid, perhaps? But why did she sit all alone? Maybe she didn't know anyone yet. Stitch decided to go practice his people skills.

Running up the back of the tree, Stitch hopped into the girl's lap, between her arms and book. The girl hissed in surprise and seemed to tense, then relax as she looked at him. Stitch stared up into a white face framed by purple hair, and glittering purple eyes. She looked at him for a time before asking, "Who or what are you?"

"Me Stitch!" he said happily.

She blinked for a time. "Stitch," she said finally. "Unusual name. And why did you drop into my lap?"

"Aloha!" Stitch waved with one clawed paw.

She smiled faintly. "Aloha." She looked at him for a time. "And why are you over here?"

"Stitch want be friend!"

The smile showed more warmth. "That's nice. I'm afraid I'm not really in the mood to play just now, though. I'd like to just read here for a time."

"Okay!" Stitch turned around to face the book, still sitting in her lap. He examined the page. "Ooh!" he said happily. He didn't recognize the language, but it didn't take his faster-than-supercomputer brain long to decipher and translate it, and the story was enthralling. He sat there, reading the lines, his stub tail wagging happily.

The girl laughed, a soft, warm, chuckle. She continued to read. When Stitch took one side of the book to look closer at the writting, she took the hand from that side and started scratching him between his ears. Stitch enjoyed the attention. The girl laughed again.

After a time, Stitch heard Lilo calling out to him. "Oops! Gotta go!" Stitch scrambled off the girl's lap. As he started to scrambleaway, he paused and turned. "Who new friend?"

The girl laughed again. "My name's Raven, Stitch."

Stitch nodded. "Eee. Aloha, Raven!" Waving, he ran off back to Lilo and home.

Raven wandered the island happily. Although she'd never admit it, Beast Boy had been right. She had desperately needed a vacation, and arranging with the others to send her to one of the less populated islands of Hawaii was a really sweet gesture. There weren't that many people, so she could avoid them if she wanted solitude. On the other hand, the people who were here were very accepting and nice, and she felt very comfortable here. Although on occasion she had wondered at some of the local fauna, like the ice elemental and lemur like creature running the low-calorie snow cone stand. However, everyone around here seemed to accept such things as normal, and her own heritage meant she really couldn't judge.

Tonight, once the sun had gone down, she had decided to explore the Ali'I trail, the supposed domain of the dreaded Night Marchers. The old legend had sounded interesting. "So," she mumbled to herself, "if I walk the Ali'I trail at night, it will begin to rain, then I will hear drums and moaning and screaming. And then the Night Marchers will come out and turn me into solid stone. Pretty spooky legend." She smiled. "Might be interesting to see."

As she walked along the trail, lightning flashed and it began to rain buckets. Raven extended her senses. "Hmm...nothing supernatural about the rain..." Suddenly, she heard a howling noise of swirling wind. Turning, she saw a blinding flare of white and yellow light. A glowing sphere floated in the air under the falling rain. "That's...new."

Suddenly, the sphere of light flashed, and Raven blinked against the spots in her eyes. She heard a quite snuffling, and the sound of a creature scampering away for a breif moment. Peering into the darkness, she saw something curled up under a batch of leaves pulled over itself to hide. Raven kneeled down to its level. "It's alright," she whispered, holding out her hand. "I won't hurt you. I'm sure you aren't a Night Marcher, just a scared little critter trying to get out of the rain. Come on," she said gently. "Come here."

Slowly, as though unsure, the leaves were pushed aside. The creature that crawled out was one of the strangest she had ever seen. Its body shape was similar to Stitch, although the ears were sharply pointed and didn't swivel. It had silver fur, six legs/arms that it both walked/crawled on and used to cling to things, each hand/paw having four sharp claws. Sprouting from its back were two batlike wings. Two curling horns arose from its forehead, and his - she wasn't sure how she came to the conclusion the creature was male, but it felt right - eyes were blood red all the way through. He crawled towards her slowly, letting out a purling whine before flopping to her feet, obviously unsure of himself and having trouble with his body.

Her compassion overwhelming her, she scooped the critter into her arms. "You poor thing," she whispered. Although she kept it well hidden from her friends, she was rather fond of animals - at least those animals that weren't terrified of her demon heritage. She wouldn't hide it as much, except she didn't need to give her friends any more ammunition to use to tease her regarding her and Beast Boy. Okay, sure, he was a nice guy and all, but - she pushed these thoughts aside. "Come on," she said, taking the creature back to the hotel. "I'll take care of you."

Gantu was startled as the Experiment Tracker activated, displaying a six limbed, winged experiment outline. "Alert: Experiment 616 activated. Warning: danger level exceeds 9000. Evacuate solar system immediately."

"Hmm...this might be problematic." Gantu looked at the readout available for this experiment...but there wasn't much. "625!" he shouted.

"WHAT?" 625 responded in irritation. "I'm working on my sandwhich here!"

"Are the hyperdrive engines on this ship functional?"

"No! The engines haven't worked since you crashed the ship, and they've never been fixed."

"...oh, blitznack," Gantu mumbled. "Well, what can you tell me about this experiment?"

"Which one?" 625 called from the kitchen.

"Experiment 616," Gantu called out.

There was a clatter of dropped dishes from the kitchen, and 625 came charging back in, running scared. "Hurry up and fix the engines! Or better, just teleport the both of us to Hamsterveel! Anything to get us out of the solar system!"

Gantu grabbed the panicking experiment. "625! Get ahold of youself! What's so bad about one little experiment? None of the others have caused this kind of panic in you."

"None of the others obliterated all life in an entire solar system during its first activation and was only sealed back into its pod by triggering the sun's supernova!" 625 screamed in panic.

"Wait!" Gantu stared at 625 in fear. "Are you saying this experiment was the cause of the Trigutho Disaster? 10,000,000,000 lives were lost in under a solar cycle!"

"That's right! And I don't want to stick around for the Sol disaster, if you don't mind!"

"What IS 616?" Gantu demanded in shock and fear.

625 managed to calm down. "Jumba was experimenting in creating an experiment that could tap into extra-planar energy sources for destructive purposes. It worked perfectly...except the dimension being tapped for power turned out to be a hell dimension, and in addition to demonic energies being chanelled through him, actual demons were able to reach through to control him. 616 can't be controlled, can't be contained, and the only thing that's ever stopped it was a supernova!"

Gantu grinned, dropping 625. "Then if I capture this experiment and deliver it tamed to Hamsterveel, I am sure to be rewarded!" He grabbed his blaster and other capture gear. "Come, 625! We have an experiment to capture!"

625 followed, rather unhappily. "This will not end well," he mumbled to himself.

Back at her hotel, Raven settled the little critter into a nest of blankets and towels. She tended to it with a gentleness that would have surprised most of her friends back in Jump CIty. Her call to room service had been awkward, as her description of the creature she was asking for diet information on had wound up with them thinking she was crazy. In the end, she had just asked them to send up a little of everything so she could figure out what the critter ate.

When the tray arrived, she discovered she hadn't needed to be so thorough. The critter had eaten everything happily...including taking a bite out of some of the dishes. Having taken a closer look at his mouth - multiple rows of ravor sharp teeth and acidic saliva - she could see why he would eat anything. At the end of his meal, he had burped happily and fallen into a deep sleep. Looking down at him, she smiled, but knew she needed to talk to someone who knew more if she was going to tend to this creature properly. He also needed a name if she was going to keep him.

"Hmm...I'm not one for wierd or inventive names...how do you like the name Joey?" The critter purred. Raven chuckled. "Joey it is, then. But what else do you need? I've never seen a creature like you before." She sighed, then brightened. "Then again, you do resemble Stitch...if only I knew how to find him..."

"Did you say Stitch?" the bellhop asked. "Blue, fluffy dog like creature? Talks on occassion?"

Raven nodded. "That's right. You know about him?"

The bellhop nodded. "He belongs to Lilo Pelekai. She tends to take care of all the wierd creatures that show up, finding places they can fit in around the island." He took off his hat to reveal a rather crazy hairdo. "One little lady - a clawed fuzzball named Clip - gave me this haircut down at the local spa."

Raven smiled. "Do you know the Pelekai number? I'd like to call and ask about Joey. Sounds like he's the same kind of creature."

"Sure," the bellhop said, jotting the number down. "Go ahead and use the hotel phone."

"Thanks," Raven said, tipping him generously. Once he left, she dialed the number. No one answered. "Huh. It is kinda late, I guess they're all asleep-" The phone was picked up.

"Pelekai residence," a sleepy voice answered. "Jumba speaking. What you want?"

"Hi, can you put Stitch on? I need to ask him some questions."

"Anything you need to ask Stitch I can probably answer," Jumba replied in a surly voice. "Come by tomorrow morning." He gave her directions to the house before hanging up.

Raven hung up the phone. "Well, might as well get some sleep." As she got into bed, she was surprised when Joey climbed in with her. Looking at how he was shivering, though, she shrugged. "Alright...just for tonight."

The next morning, Raven followed the directions she got from Jumba, carrying Joey in a basket over her arm. Joey kept shivering, looking kind of sick. She was worried. She had tried healing him with her magic before leaving, but she couldn't find anything wrong with him. Reaching the house, she knocked. She was rather surprised when a one eyed being in women's clothing answered the door.

"Can I help you?" the person asked.

"I'm here to see Jumba and Stitch," Raven responded quickly. This person made her nervous for some reason.

"Oh." The person turned inside. "Jumba! You have a visitor! She also wants to see Stitch!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" A large, purple creature with four eyes in an undersized hawaiian shirt came to the door. "I have this, Plekley. Yes? Can I help you?"

Raven blinked. "You're the Jumba I spoke to on the phone last night?"

"Yes, that's me. Come in please. 626 is out with Lilo just now, looking for his cousins."

Raven stepped in, confused. "626?"

"You know him as Stitch," Pleakley said. "626 is just what Jumba calls him."

"Oh. I take it these 'cousins' are the other unusual creatures I've noticed around the island?"

"That's right," Jumba said happily. "That's the 'cousins.'"

"Ah. Well, I think I've found one, and that's why I'm here. He seems ill, and I'm trying to find out what I should do to treat him."

"Oh, then you come to right man!" Jumba said happily. "I make 626 and all his cousins. If one is ill, I know what to do to fix!"

"Made? That explains it." Raven opened the basket and reached inside. "Then you can tell me what's wrong with Joey?"

"Joey? Sure, I can tell you what's wrong with - MOTHER OF GOD!" Jumba shot back like a cannonball when she lifted Joey out of the basket. "Experiment 616! Keep that demon away from me!"

Raven's eyebrows twitched. "I take offense to that. Just because he has horns and wings doesn't mean he's a demon. And right now he's ill, and since you made him, you WILL find out how to make him better."

"But-" Jumba began, and there was a rumbling.

The roof was pulled up, and Gantu grinned down at them. "Starting my search here seems to be proving an effective tactic!" he proclaimed, pointing his blaster at Raven. "Now hand over the abomination before I-"

Gantu didn't get another word out before a blast of black energy erupted from Raven's hand and blasted Gantu backward. She set Joey in Jumba's hands. "Hold him," she said simply, before storming out after Gantu.

Gantu sat up groggily, shaking his head. "What hit me?" he asked, then saw Raven approaching. "What manner of-"

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven proclaimed, thrusting her hands forward. Black energy leapt from her hands, seizing Gantu. She swung her arms about, slamming Gantu into trees, the ground, and various other hard objects before spinning him around and flinging him over the back of the house.

"Ooh! Ee! Ee!" Turning, she saw Stitch bouncing around excitedly at her show of power.

"Not now, Stitch," she said calmly. "I have to help Joey." She turned to run around to the back of the house, noticing that Stitch and the little girl with him - she assumed it was Lilo - followed her.

Once there, she saw Joey sitting on the ground on four legs, raised up holding two arms out, wings spread for balance. Black energy identical to what Raven had used launched from his hands, striking towards Gantu but missing. At first Raven was impressed, but then she noticed something that worried her. A second set of blood red eyes began to open over Joey's normal eyes, and a familiar runic symbol began to appear in red fire on his forehead between the eyes.

"Oh," Raven mumbled to herself. "That demon." She walked forward quickly. "No!" she said firmly to Joey.

Joey stopped wielding the enrgy, and the second set of eyes and the symbol vanished. "Naga?" he said, confused.

"No. Too dangerous. Keep that up and you'll do something you'll regret." Raven scooped Joey into her arms.

Joey nodded sadly, shaking. She recognized the shakes now. It wasn't sickness, it was bad memories and nightmares. "Jumba really can't do anything for you there, huh? But maybe I can." She blinked as a camera flashed.

"Well, looks like that's another experiment that's found its one true place!" Lilo said happily. She held out her hand. "I'm Lilo, and this is my dog Stitch! He's an alien genetic experiment, like his cousins."

Raven shook the little girl's hand, amused by her glibness. Most probably took such forthrightedness as making things up, but she could tell differently. "I'm Raven," she said, deciding to be equally glib. "I'm a half-demon superhero...on vacation."

Lilo's eyes went wide. "Wow! The Teen Titan? That's amazing! It's an honor to meet you! Wow, Stitch, I got to meet my favorite Teen Titan, and one of your cousins is going to be living with her! Isn't that awesome?"

"Ee!" Stitch nodded affirmatively.

Raven found herself blushing. "I'm your favorite?"

"Uh huh! Sure, Starfire's cool with her powers and all, but I live with aliens. Aliens aren't that big a deal to me. And a lot of the experiments could out shape change Beast Boy, and after some of the tech related experiments, Cyborg losses some of his impressiveness. But you! You're dark and mysterious and have badass powers! I bet you could raise an army of the undead if you wanted to couldn't you?"

"That would be terribly irresponsible," Raven said blandly, amused despite herself. "And what about our leader, Robin? You didn't mention him."

"Isn't Robin a girl's name?" Lilo was rather confused by Raven's outburst of laughter. "What did I say?"

Raven shook her head. "It's nothing." She noticed Jumba staring at her. "What?"

"How are you able to control 616? Last time that symbol appeared on his forehead, he destroyed an entire solar system!"

Raven rolled her eyes. "It's because his power and mine draw from the same source. That same symbol was appearing on MY forehead not too many years ago." She shrugged. "I recognized what was happening, and was able to use my own power aura to suppress his breifly. I can see what you mean about calling him a demon, though, even if I don't like it."

Jumba smiled. "If you can control 616, then he belongs with you. Good luck keeping him from destroying all life as we know it!"

Raven laughed. "I'll do my best."

The Titans were rather excited about Raven's return. "Oh how I have missed my dear friend Raven these past two weeks!" Starfire proclaimed. "She cannot get back too soon!"

Although no one else was as vocal about it, they all nodded ascent. Beast Boy was pacing, though. Although Raven's vacation had been his idea, he still missed her.

The door slid open, and Beast Boy charged forward. "Raven! You're back!" He started to hug her, but pulled back when he felt something sharp jab into his chest. "Ow!" He looked down. "You brought a friend?"

Raven glanced down at the critter in her arms. "This is Joey," she said with a smile. Then she looked back up at Robin, glaring. "He will be joining us here."

Robin gulped. They all knew better than to argue with Raven when she used THAT tone.

Starfire, of course, was over the moon about Raven having a pet as well, talking about arranging play dates between Joey and Silkie.

Robin sighed, though not unhappily. "At this rate, everyone in the Tower will have a pet."

"Would that be so bad?" Cyborg asked.

Robin thought about it, watching Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy happily clustered around little Joey, who was trying quite seriously to eat the toaster, startling laughter all around. "Maybe not," Robin mused quietly. 


	2. Chapter 2

Experiment 616-2

"Alright, Joey," Raven said to the creature beside her. "Your power is extremely strong, but also very dangerous. Do you understand?"

Joey nodded. "Ee."

"This means that - if you don't want to accidentally hurt a lot of people, you need to practice control." Raven smiled. "Now, I have the same power as you, and I've found meditation to be one of the best ways to control my power. So, I'm going to teach you to meditate, alright?"

"Okay, Mama," Joey said happily.

Raven flushed. She didn't know why it made her so happy that Joey thought of her as Mama. The only thing they had in common was their power drew from the same source. However, this led her to take him in, and coddle him to a certain extent. Although she'd meant to only allow Joey to sleep curled up to her that first night, because he was shivering so badly, she quickly discovered she didn't have it in her to enforce that, and found his little fluffy body curled up in her arms to be quite comforting. Smiling, she got herself into a lotus position. "Alright, Joey, position yourself like this. Can you do that?"

"Ee." Joey crossed his legs easily, then looked up at her. "What now?"

Raven held her hands out, middle finger touching thumb in her usual meditation position. "Now do this."

Joey mimiced with his foremost hands. Then he looked down. "Mama, what about dese?" He waved his middle arms a bit.

Raven thought. "Hmm...put them palm together in front of your chest."

Joey did so. "Like des, Mama?"

Raven nodded. Then she glanced at Joey's wings. THeir normal at rest position was ill conducive to meditation, flopping around all over. "Hmm...touch your horn tips with your wingclaws."

Joey nodded, mantling his wings until the clawtips touched the tips of his horns. His eyes were closed as he focused on maintaning this position.

Smiling, Raven found herself overcome with an impish notion. Reaching forward, she poked Joey lightly in his fuzzy belly with her index finger.

Joey yelped and tumbled back head over paws. Raven giggled, and Joey looked up at her, totally confused.

"I'm sorry," Raven said, feeling contrite. "You had it just right. You were just too cute, and I couldn't resist." At Joey's smile, Raven gestured. "Okay, assume the position again." Joey covered his tummy with his middle arms. Raven laughed. "I promise I won't poke you this time."

Smiling, Joey got back into position as Raven continued to instruct him. "Now, when you meditate, it's best to have a chant, something you can focus on as you let your mind clear."

Joey nodded. "Miga naga quista...Miga naga Quista..."

Raven stopped him. "Profanity's a bad idea to use for focusing demonic energy under control." At Joey's surprised expression, Raven smirked. "I don't need to speak that language to recognize that a little kid likes curse words." Joey giggled. "Now," Raven continued, "my chant has to do with where I was trained, in Azarath. Until you find one that has more meaning for you, you can use mine." Joey nodded. Taking a deep breath, Raven closed her eyes. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."

As she chanted, she heard Joey's somewhat squeaky voice join her. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."

They stayed like that, going into a deep meditative state, for some hours. Then the tower alarm went off. Raven dashed off, and Joey scrambled to keep up.

In the main room, Robin began his breifing, explaining the mission. Once everyone was briefed, they started to go. When he noticed Joey trying to follow, he turned to him. "You stay here," Robin told Joey. "We can't keep our eyes open for you while we're working."

Joey hung his head, not noticing the glower Raven directed at Robin. He felt Raven kneel down beside him. "It's okay, Joey. I know you want to help...just not this time. You don't have enough control yet." She hugged him tight. "Maybe next time." As they all left, Joey heard Raven comment to Robin, "We'll talk later," in a very hard voice.

Joey glanced around at the empty tower. He'd only been living here for a few days, but he'd managed to explore most of the place already. His first day had been spent in the main room, where Mama, the green boy, and the alien had made much of him, and then in Mama's room. He had explored both rooms fully. The next day he had explored nearly the entire rest of the tower, crawling all over investigating with Mama following along behind, watching him. He'd enjoyed the time in the alien's room, playing with her worm child. The human's room had been rather dull...until he'd attempted to investigate the drawers, and the human had come in to yell. That had been fun. The machine's room had given Joey bad vibes, and the scents didn't agree with him. He enjoyed his time in the green boy's room, even if Mama did insist on a bath after romping in the scent piles. The rest of the tower had shown no signs of life, and had bored Joey into insensibility...except for the empty room.

That was how Jeoy thought of it. It was a room that had once held life, but no longer did. At the point of discovery, the green boy had been walking with Mama, watching Joey's explorations. But when Joey had entered the empty room, the visual stimuli was nothing compared to the mix of emotions he'd felt from Mama and the green boy when he opened the door. The green boy gave off sadness, remembered heartbreak, and a kening regret. Mama had given off sadness, rage, and compassion for the green boy. Joey concluded that the reason this room was empty of life was because it was full of memories, and he longed for the day he would be strong enough to delve into the memories of the place, and understand why it affected Mama and the green boy so much more than the others.

Returning to the present, Joey wandered to the kitchen. He knew he was not supposed to raid the fridge. That was Mama's rule: Good Little Boy's Wait to be Fed. Joey strived to be a good boy, since that made Mama happy, and Joey loved Mama, and wanted her to be happy. Glancing up, he saw the ultimate temptation: the treat jar. Mama had brought this back with her from the Other Place, where Joey had awakened and discovered that Mama was his Mama. It was filled with tasty tidbits, and he got them for being an especially good boy. This was Temptation. Mama had said that - as her good boy - she knew she could trust him not to raid the treat jar when her back was turned, so she knew she didn't have to hide it from him or try to put it beyond his reach. Mama had also said she'd be very dissapointed in him if she learned she couldn't trust him in this regard. Joey squirmed. The treats called him...but Mama trusted him.

He still remembered his first awakening: the flames in his mind, the flames that consumed those around him. His attack on his maker, the red man in his mind. The doubled vision, the pain in his head. The blood of innocents of several worlds, spilled by his hands...

Joey shook himself off, breaking free of the memory. "No. Joey not bad no more, Mama say so. Joey good. Joey good boy for Mama." Mama had shown him how the red man he remembered sought to gain entry to his mind through his darker emotions. If he got too angry, or too scared, or too depressed...the red man would strike through the emotion, and funnel power into him, turning him into a monster. Joey was learning to control his emotions, how to feel them without being consumed by them. That was the reason for meditation.

Suddenly, he heard someone moving about in the tower. Curious, he went to investigate. He saw a fat young man giggling to himself as he worked on some sort of device. "The Titans will never know what hit them!" the man said, his back to Joey.

Joey felt his temper begin to boil. The Titans was Mama and her friends. This man wanted to hurt Mama! Joey's vision began to double as his rage started to boil over.

Shaking himself, Joey struggled to retain control. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos..." he muttered under his breath, over and over. His vision returned to normal, and he knew he'd regained control. However, the man had heard his muttering.

"Who's there? Show yourself! You stand no chance against Control Freak, the Teen Titans number one nemesis!" The man waved some sort of device, a weapon of some sort.

Realizing he had to act quickly, Joey touched the wall behind him in the shadows...and dashed. Control Freak turned to follow him with the weapon as he ran around the room, kicking the wall before running across to another. Joey was able to stay just ahead of the crosshairs as he kicked three more walls before dashing into the open space by the main door, muttering.

"I have you now!" Control Freak shouted, and pressed a button on his weapon. A beam of energy fired...

...and ricocheted off an energy wall in front of him, causing him to duck. Joey sat back, grinning, as the pentagram he had crafted to contain this threat to Mama and her friends fully activated. Sealing him in AND blocking off sound. The fat man pounded on the energy barrier, obviously shouting something, but nothing could be heard.

Grinning, Joey caught his breath, then turned to watch the door, waiting for Mama and the others to return. He didn't have long to wait. Before too long, the door opened and the masked human stepped through, leading everyone else. They all stopped and stared at the trapped fat man.

Joey pointed at his prisoner. "He say, Titans not know hit. That mean bad guy, right? Joey did good?"

The human was attempting to close his mouth, as his jaw had dropped pretty far at Joey's statement and questions. The alien was clearly holding back the urge to scoop Joey up, squealing in joy. The green boy and the machine were laughing hysterically, although Joey wasn't sure what they were laughing at.

Mama came forward and picked Joey up. "You did very good, Joey. I'd say youve earned yourself a treat." At that point, the fat man began pounding the barrier again while shouting, pressing buttons on his weapon. Nothing happened, and nothing was heard. Mama looked at Joey with an eyebrow quirked up quizically.

Joey grinned. "Bad guy have annoying voice, so Joey block sound."

Mama chuckled. "Make that two treats."

Joey chortled happily, curling into Mama's embrace. As Mama carried Joey up towards the kitchen, he heard the human say, "Alright Raven, I guess he can start regular training to come with on missions."

"Good," Mama said flatly, as Joey smiled. 


	3. Chapter 3

Experiment 616-3

"Alright," Robin said to Joey. "Let's start with some basic fitness testing. Let's see what you're capable of in a controlled environment."

Joey listened to the masked human, tail wagging happily. Mama had told him that this would mean he could go with when Mama and the others went outside, if he did well. He was eager to do well.

The masked human pointed to a strangely configured device. "This is a treadmill," he said. "Get on it."

Joey hopped up onto the treadmill, and it tipped over on top of him. "Ow!"

The masked human glowered. "Are you TRYING to be difficult?"

"He's just a kid, Robin," Mama said from the side, angrily. "Obviously, he's never seen a treadmill before. Not everyone who does something stupid is Beast Boy."

"Yeah - HEY!" the green boy said. The mecha man laughed.

The masked human sighed as he righted the treadmill. He pointed at the flat part. "Stand there."

Joey climbed onto the flat part, low to the ground. He recognized a short conveyer belt, but didn't understand the purpose. Then the masked human started pushing buttons on the top part, and the conveyer belt started to move. Joey watched, noticing he was being pushed slowly towards the end. He started to walk forward.

Suddenly, he understood. This treadmill was for walking in place. The ground moved instead of the one walking. Smiling, he walked along happily as the masked human continued to push buttons and the conveyer slowly increased speed. Joey waved at Mama, and she waved back, smiling.

As the conveyer increased speed, Joey began to trot. His six legs made it easy to mantain velocity, matching the speed of the conveyer. As the speed increased further, he began to jog. Then canter. Then gallop. At last, it was an all out charge. This was fun!

Then, as the conveyer belt was moving very fast, one of his claws went through the belt, getting stuck. He cried out in pain as his paw was wrenched as he got dragged under the treadmill by the rapid movement of the belt.

The treadmill suddenly came apart in a flare of black energy, and Mama was scooping him up. "It's alright, there there. You did good," she whispered. Gently, she touched his injured paw, and blue light poured from her hand. As the light touched him, the pain went away, and his paw felt better. He stared in wonder. Mama had said they shared powers. Mama had healed his injury. Did that mean...that he could learn to heal, too?

The masked human was saying something to Mama, but she glared at him. "He's just a child!" she snapped. "Take it easy on him!"

The masked human sighed, rubbing his forehead. He turned to Joey. "Now we'll test your strength. Bring me the heaviest thing in here you think you can lift easily."

Joey nodded, trotting off. He knew how strong his body was. Although not as strong as his cousin Stitch, he was still plenty strong. He could lift 1,000 times his weight without his powers. With, he could easily hit 10,000 times. He figured the masked human wanted him to lift without powers.

Seeing something, he walked over. The mecha-man was on some sort of weight machine, using heavy duty hydraulics to push his body to its limit. Turning, he saw Mama and the masked human arguing again. He could hear what it was about. Mama wanted the masked human to go easy, since Joey was so young. The masked human was accusing Mama of coddling Joey. Joey did not like the masked human very much.

Joey decided to do as he was told. Picking up the weight machine - with the mecha-man still using it - he shouted. "Catch!" and threw it to the masked human.

As the masked human stumbled backward, Mama held up her hands. Black energy caught the machine, slowing it down. She smirked at Joey. "A little literal about orders there, Joey. Now, you catch, then carry it over."

"Don't I get a say?" the mecha-man asked, before freaking out as Mama propelled the maching back to Joey.

Joey caught the machine lightly in one hand - it only weighed 500 times his weight - and walked over to Mama and the masked human. The masked human instructed him to put it back, so he did. Then the masked human smirked at him. He didn't like the masked human's smirk. "Let's see how you do on the obstacle course," the masked human said.

Joey followed Mama and the others outside. Joey followed directions down to a spot by many boulders and machines.

"The goal is to get to the other end as fast as you can," the masked human said. "Start!"

Joey started to run forward, then an autocannon popped out of the ground and fired at him. Turning, he ran in fear straight to Mama, shivering in her arms.

Mama snapped at the masked human. "You didn't even explain it to him!" She cuddled Joey gently. "It's alright. It's okay. Just a little weapons fire. Nothing to be scared of."

The green boy spoke up. "How about if I run the course once, so he sees what it's all about? Maybe he won't be so scared then."

The masked human spoke. "I guess that makes sense," he said grudgingly.

Mama was smiling. "Thanks, Beast Boy." She held up Joey. "Joey, watch what Beast Boy does, okay?"

Joey watched as the green boy ran through the gate. The autocannons fired, walls rose and fell, and swinging blades struck out at him. The green boy dodged what came at him easily, always moving forward. When he got to the other end, the machinery stopped and returned to dormant state. A time was displayed on the scoreboard, along with another time labeled as a record.

"Sorry, BB!" the mecha-man called. "Didn't beat my record!"

"Aw, man!" the green boy said, stomping his foot.

Suddenly, Joey understood. This was a game. The fastest time was the winner. It was like the video games the green boy and mecha-man played, only real. Now it made sense. Joey bounced up and down, eager to try.

Mama set Joey down gently at the start...then floated over to the finish. "Come to Mama, Joey," she whispered. Joey, with his strong hearing, heard it plainly. As the masked human started the timer, Joey dashed in.

The auto cannons started to fire, but he easily dodged each blast. When one shot exploded close behind him, he spread his wings and caught the shockwave, taking to the air with an impressive speed boost. He barrel rolled around other fire and the spinning blades, flaring his wings to catch every shockwave he could to boost his speed. When a wall came up between him and Mama near the end, he didn't have time to dodge around...but some instinct caused him to fold his wings around himself. Black energy surrounded him, and he phased through the wall, his momentum landing him gently in Mama's arms across the finish. Mama cuddled him, praising him quietly.

"I don't believe it!" the mecha-man shouted. Joey looked up.

The mecha-man was staring at the scoreboard. "He beat my record by a full minute!" he was shouting. "No way!"

The masked human smiled. "New challenge! Anyone who can beat Joey's record doesn't have to do their chores for a week!"

A concerted shout followed, as each of the others attempted to beat Joey's time several times, though they weren't able to. Joey did overhear, however, one interchange that intruiged him, between the green boy and Mama.

"You know, Raven, I think Joey did so well cause he had better motivation than us."

"How so, Beast Boy?"

"Well, I know I'd certainly breack the limits to get into your arms." The green boy grinned and quirked his eyebrows a bit.

Mama frowned. "Not in this lifetime, Beast Boy."

Joey watched the two of them after hearing that. As interesting as their words were, their emotions were even more intruiging. The green boy had been feeling affection, mischef, and desire. Mama had been feeling embarrasment, pleasure, and irritation. Joey attempted to figure it out, but couldn't make sense of it. He decided he'd ask about it later. 


	4. Chapter 4

Experiment 616-4

Joey sat on the couch in the main room of the Tower, staring at the evidence of his crime. Mama hadn't said anything yet, but he knew: he had been a Bad Boy. Ears flat against his skull, tail curled against his rear, he whimpered sadly as he stared. He hadn't meant to do it, but he could not shift blame.

The alien girl came up to him. "It is alright, little bumgorf," she said. Bumgorf, in her language that was the term for a child, also used as an affectionate for a pet. "Your k'norfka is just sensitive about such things." K'norfka, a term for a parental figure. She meant Mama. "She will not stay mad at you for too long. She loves you too much." Although her words were full of conviction, Joey sensed doubt inside her.

He knew. He knew she was trying to offer him comfort, reassurance. But he also knew how important this was to Mama. Why did it have to happen?

He had been playing with the alien lady, the worm baby, and the green boy. They had been having a fun chase around the main room, with Mama sitting on the sofa, watching idly as she read. Then the green boy had brushed by her in the form of a dog during the chase, and she had dropped her book. And then...Joey had chased closed behind, right across the book, tearing several pages with his claws.

This wasn't just any book, either. This was Mama's Book of Azar, the compendium of her people's teachings, scriptures, and histories. It was Mama's only copy, and with Azarath no longer existing, there was no way to replace or repair it.

When it happened, Mama had stared down at him, at the book, her face blank, her eyes hard. The morass of emotions roiling inside of her was hard to fathom, but he easily detected her rage and sadness. Then, before saying anything, she warped away.

Mother had never warped away before, never left him behind. He knew he had been a very bad boy, damaging such an important, irreplaceable book, especially with how much Mama valued her books. Carefully picking the book up, not wanting to damage it further, he gently carried it back to Mama's room.

Setting it down on her desk, he sat there, staring at it. He glanced at the shelves. Mama sometimes restored her own books. Maybe...maybe he could repair this book, and then Mama wouldn't be angry with him anymore. That was it! Joey had done wrong, so if Joey fixed it, then Joey isn't a bad boy anymore!

Focusing on this - on how happy his beloved Mama would be when he showed her the repaired book - he reached for the tools she used. He knew how to use them, having watched her do it before. In mid reach, though, he paused. For a brief moment, he saw a blue light shimmering around his hand. He knew that light. Mama used that light to heal.

He sat back in the chair, thinking. Mama had taught him many things about his power. Emotions drove it, and emotional control gave him control of his powers. This was the reason for meditation. Also, the negative emotions - rage, depression, fear - opened the door for the evil red man from his dreams. Following this, he took the logic a step further. Normal emotional reactions drove the black energy of his magic, which could be used for magic. The negative emotions brought forth the red light that opened the door for the evil red man. Then...did that mean that positive emotions brought forth the blue light of healing?

Trying to test this theory, he focused on the most positive emotion he could fathom: his love for his Mama, letting her every kindness and loving act towards him fill his mind, letting his love for her fill his heart. He watched, his eyes wide, as the blue light began to pour from his hand. Not daring to hope, he held his hand towards the book. The light expanded towards the torn pages. Joey stared, his eyes wide, as the blue light of healing magic repaired the torn pages, restoring the book to its former condition, healing other damages that had been inflicted on it through time and handling.

As the light faded, Joey sat back against the chair, breathing heavily. This magic had taken a lot out of him. Mama had explained this, too. As he began to control his magic, the magical workings he could do would start small, as he would have to build up his magical wind. Still, he smiled, thinking Mama would be pleased with him. Hearing Mama approaching the room, he picked up the book, getting down to stand where she would see him once she opened the door.

He could hear her in the hallway, but she wasn't alone. The green boy was with her. They were arguing.

"I'm not going to yell at him, Beast Boy. I left when I did so I wouldn't yell at him."

"What? Raven, what's gotten into you? I know you coddle him, but still!"

"Beast Boy, he's practically newborn, and going through much the same thing I did. Of course I'm going to work hard to help him through it!"

"Raven, if I'd ripped one of your books - let alone the Book of Azar - you'd have sent me through the window or something!"

"And? What's your point?"

"Raven, you treat him better than you do the rest of us, your friends!"

Mama was quiet for a time, sardonic amusement palpable from her. "You want me to treat you like a pet...Garfield?"

"Raven, you don't treat him like a pet." The green boy's emotions balanced between pain, concern, affection, and anger. "You treat him like he's your baby."

Mama's emotions briefly went blank. Then rage, pain, grief, sorrow, and love overwhelmed her. "So what if I do? He's the closest I'll ever have to a child of my own!" With that, the door opened, Mama stepped through, and slammed the door shut.

The emotions from the green boy confused Joey - pain, grief, regret, affection, self loathing, love - but he pushed those thoughts aside, showing Mama the book. "Look, Mama! Joey fix book. Joey...Joey do good?" he asked, hoping he'd made up for what he'd done.

Mama stared at Joey, and Joey was surprised to see tears forming in her eyes. Taking the book from his hands, she set it gently aside, then pulled him into a tight embrace, her tears quietly falling.

"Mama?" Joey asked, trying to hug her, not knowing what was wrong.

Mama said nothing. She just held him and cried.

The next day, Joey went around the Tower, confused. Mama had cried herself to sleep the night before. While every other night she had held him gently, seeming resigned to his need to sleep close to her, last night she had clung to him, her need far stronger than his. What the green boy had said to Mama had hurt her deeply...but saying it had hurt him more.

As he wandered, he noticed no one else was up yet. He wasn't hungry, so that didn't really bother him. However, normally the human at the very least was up this early.

Joey smiled as he noticed the door to the roof open. He stuck his head out, then sat there for a time. The human was there with the alien girl. Joey didn't fully understand the significance of what they were doing, but knew it was called a kiss, and the way they were doing it had romantic significance. Joey clung to the top of the roof access, watching. After a time, the alien girl bid the human farewell, and headed back inside. The human stayed outside a little longer, watching the sunrise.

Joey took that time to approach him. He coughed to get attention. The human turned to him, smiling faintly.

"What can I do for you, Joey?" he asked.

Joey sat down next to him. "Green boy say something that made Mama very sad last night. Then Mama say something that made green boy very sad."

The human sighed. "Yeah...we all heard. We're all a little worried." The human took a sip of a drink he had next to him.

"Why green boy do it...when he love Mama?"

The human choked, spitting his drink off the side of the tower. "Wh-what ever gave you the idea Beast Boy had feelings for Raven?"

Joey looked straight at the masked human. "You think ridiculous, feeling doubt, skepticism, and mild humor. You think Joey not know what Joey talking about. Joey can tell. Joey feel your heart...just like Joey feel Mama's heart, and alien girl's heart, and green boy's heart, and mecha-man's heart."

The masked human blnked for a time, then shook his head. "So you're an empath like Raven, huh? That figures." He glanced at Joey. "It's not exactly polite to talk about others emotions like that. Raven doesn't."

Joey shook his head. "Joey not care about polite. Joey care about Mama. Want Mama to be happy." Joey walked up and looked the masked human in the eye. "Tell Joey about empty room."

"Empty room?" The masked human was obviously confused.

"Empty room. Upsets Mama and green boy more than others. Has mountain sunset on wall."

The masked human's eyes went wide. "Oh..." He sat down. "That was Terra's old room." Emotions and images swarmed the masked human's mind, images of a girl, blonde haired, blue eyed, with power over earth. Robin shook his head. "She was one of us...but she betrayed us. If you want to know more...you should ask Raven or Beast Boy. It hit Beast Boy a lot harder than the rest of us..."

As the masked human was talking, Joey had pulled out a mobile link to the tower computer he had 'borrowed' from the mecha-man's room. He accessed the files, and attempted to access the human's files. When the security prevented it, Joey easily hacked around it. The mecha-man's security was state of the art for this world, but Joey and his cousins were designed to be capable to hack tech at the interstellar level. Compared to the Galactic Federation of Planets Council main computer, this was child's play...and Joey wasn't playing.

In the files, he learned of Terra's situation. Her initial lack of control. The green boy's emotional attatchment to her. Her initial return after running away. Her betrayal. How she saved them at the end. The knowledge of the green boy's attatchment to Mama explained quite a bit to Joey...but only one thing explained why it hurt Mama so much.

Mama loved the green boy.

Sifting through the files, he looked for something, anything to cheer Mama up. If Mama could be in a good mood, then he could broach this subject to her, and find out why she did not pursue a relationship with the green boy. If Joey could sense it, Mama obviously could.

It was in one of the green boy's files that he found a photo, one that gave him what he needed. Smiling, he composed a message, using the green boy's account so it would look like it was his idea. Sending the message, he closed the link and left the roof, leaving the human to his ruminations.

Joey loved Mama, but he wasn't the only one who saw her that way. Joey had siblings. 


	5. Chapter 5

Expriment 616-5

Joey walked calmly around the tower, making some show of poking his nose into things. Mama seemed somewhat happier today...at least outwardly. Joey could tell that inside she was as torn up as ever, but she was determined to move past it. Joey hoped his plan would help fix things further.

He'd left the file with the sent message open in the green boy's account. He had been nearby when the green boy looked at his files and saw it. Joey was surprised with how the green boy reacted. As soon as he saw the message, he turned to stare at Joey, suspicion heavy in his emotional energy. The green boy was smart. He knew Joey had set this up, and made it look like the green boy had. When he actually read the sent message, he grinned, came over, and patted Joey affectionately on the head, calling him a good boy.

Joey's plan would work as far as that went, at least. All that was left was to see how it worked out. Also, Joey would have to remember to act surprised when they got here, or Mama would suspect. Then he remembered: the human had said Mama could feel people's hearts the way he could. An empath, he'd said. Joey knew they were coming, and when they got here, Mama would know that Joey knew. It seemed the plan was doomed from the start.

Then the doorbell rang. "Joey get!" he cried, running for the door. Maybe if he saw them first, it would still work. But Joey didn't make it to the door first. When he got there, Mama was already there, hugging the arrivals: a blond girl, a red headed boy, and a blond baby boy. Joey felt genuine surprise at how strong Mama's emotions for these three were, how much she needed them.

Mama turned. "Joey, come here."

He nodded. "Yes Mama." He approached happily.

The girl looked up. "Raven, why'd he call you Mama? Is he your baby?"

Mama pursed her lips. "In a way," she said finally. "Sort of in the same way you guys are my kids."

The girl looked really happy. "Does that mean we can call you Mama?"

The emotion Joey felt from Mama would have made him cry if he had tear ducts. "Yes, you can," she said at last.

"MAMA!" the three kids shouted happily, hugging Mama.

Joey then found himself taking action he didn't fully understand. Leaping up, he clung to Mama, positioning himself between her and the kids. "My mama!" he said petulantly.

Mama laughed, a warm, rich laugh that made Joey's heart soar. "Joey, these are your brothers and sister; Melvin, Timmy, and Teether. Kids, this is your new little brother, Joey."

Joey and his new siblings exchanged glances. "What is he?" his red brother asked.

"He's an alien, like Starfire," Mama explained.

"He don't look like Starfire," the littlest one said.

"He's a different sort of alien," Mama said with a smile.

"COOL!" all three of Joey's siblings said. Then they began to roughhouse a bit. Joey was careful to use very little strength, as he didn't want to damage his new siblings.

Mama smiled as she watched, then frowned. "What brought you kids here, anyway?"

Joey's sister looked up. "Beast Boy. He sent us a message that you were feeling sad and lonely, so he asked us to come by to see if we could cheer you up."

Mama smiled. "Gar..." she mumbled under her breath, shaking her head. "Come on, let's go say hi to everyone."

"YAY!" Joey followed his siblings as they raced into the tower. He wondered when they would mention the invisible teddy bear. Joey would have brought it up himself, as it wasn't invisible to him, but he didn't want to make waves. He still didn't swim very well.

Upstairs, Joey watched Mama approach the green boy. He set himself near enough that he could listen unobtrusively.

"Beast Boy, thanks for bringing them here."

"Don't mention it, Raven. Maybe this can make up for what I said a little."

"*sigh* ...What gave you the idea to call them, anyway?"

"Joey. He makes you happy, they make you happy, and you mother all four of them. ...seemed like a good idea at the time."

The green boy was fast on his feet, Joey had to give him that. Hopefully he'd shut his mouth before he outraced himself. Luckily, the conversation ended not long after as they all went out on a picnic.

Joey had a great time at the picnic grounds. He was introduced to the invisible teddy bear - named Bobby - and enjoyed food and games. What he enjoyed most, though, was the sense of family that pervaded the gathering.

At long last, they returned to the Tower, and Joey and his siblings went with Mama to her room while another room was being set up for Melvin, Timmy, and Teether.

Joey decided it was time to carefully begin broaching the subject. "Mama...we family, yes?"

Mama smiled. "Yes, Joey. We're a family."

Before Joey could follow up with his next question, his sister beat him to it. "Mama, who's our Daddy?"

Mama winced. Joey felt her thought, *I should have seen this coming.* Sighing, she asked, "Well, who do you think of as Daddy?"

Joey knew he couldn't be the one to ask it. Maybe he could guide his siblings to suggest it. "Alien lady?" he suggested with a grin.

"Don't be silly!" Melvin said. "Starfire can't be Daddy."

"Yeah!" Timmy said. "She's missing some parts for that!" He snickered.

"Don't be crude, Timmy," Melvin said intently. She glanced at Joey, then grinned. "Maybe it's Robin?"

Mama shook her head. "While he's certainly enough of a disciplinarian, you also need a nurturing side to be a father, and Robin really hasn't found his yet."

Joey tilted his head. "Mecha man?" he suggested humorously.

Mama laughed. "He can't handle kids at all."

Then Teether spoke up. "Beast Boy."

Mama flinched, but Melvin pounced on it. "Yeah, it must be! He's always spending time with us when we're here with Mama, after all!"

Joey nodded. "Always nice, but can be firm, too."

Melvin nodded happily. "And he loves Mama. It's SOO obvious!" Joey tried to hide his shock at Melvin's perceiving this.

Mama rolled her eyes. "Well, since you all have your heart set on it, sure, Beast Boy can be your Daddy."

"YAY!" they all cheered.

"Now go see if your Daddy has got your room ready yet."

Squealing happily, they raced out of the room. Joey and Mama were alone in the room. "Joey," she asked him, "why'd you make it look like Beast Boy brought them here?"

Joey flinched. He hadn't fooled Mama at all. "Mama sad. Sis and brothers make Mama feel better."

"That's why you brought them, Joey, and I thank you for that. But why did you make it look like it was Beast Boy's idea?"

Joey sighed. Then he looked up at Mama. It was now or never. "Why you tell Daddy you never have kids?" he asked. Since she said they could think of the green boy as Daddy, that's how he was going to refer to him from now on.

Mama winced. "You...heard that?" Joey nodded. "It's...a long story."

Joey grabbed the tips of his ears and tugged on them, demonstrating their length.

Mama chuckled. "Alright. ...you remember the red man from your dreams?"

Joey shuddered and nodded.

"He's my father." Joey gasped in shock. "When I turned sixteen, he activated a prophecy that had been around since I was born. Using our ties of blood, he compelled me to become his portal to this world. ...thanks to Beast Boy and the others, I found the strength to drive him back, but...he still exists. While he can't influence me the way he could before, any children I have will also be of his blood, and he'll have the same power over them he had over me. How could I consign any child to that fate, when I can so easily prevent it? And also...what if next time he gets through, we aren't able to send him back?"

Joey crawled up into Mama's lap, nuzzling her comfortingly. "That why you no be with Daddy, like masked human with alien lady?"

Mama nodded. "Beast Boy's a genuinely good soul. Kind, loving, considerate...he'll make a great father someday. He deserves to have that chance...and I can't give it to him. So...I have to keep him at arm's length..." Tears fell from Mama's eyes. "...no matter how much I love him." She held Joey tight, crying once more in chocking sobs.

00000000000000000

It was much later that night. Everyone was asleep...except for Joey. He was hard at work, writing out what he had learned in a flow chart.

The evil red man - Trigon - was Mama's father. His blood link to her let him control her when she was younger, and would let him do so to any children she had who were also of his blood. Because of this, Mama had decided to have no children. As such, Mama couldn't be happy with Daddy. Trigon was the only obstacle to Mama's happiness. This obstacle had to be removed from the equation.

Mama had said that Good Little Boys did what they could to make their Mama's happy. Joey wanted to be a Good Boy. Joey wanted Mama to be happy. His path was clear.

Somehow, someway, someday...Joey would kill Trigon. 


End file.
